One of the best features of artificial turf is its low-maintenance nature that doesn’t require as much effort to maintain as natural grass.
Specifically, homeowners rejoice at the absence of the need to water regularly.
While it doesn’t need to be watered as frequently as natural grass, sometimes you will have to water it for enhanced benefits.
Why Water Artificial Grass If It’s Just Plastic?
Artificial turf does not require water to grow, unlike natural grass, but it does occasionally require watering and cleaning in order to maintain it.
Artificial grass can often benefit from an occasional cleaning since it will rinse away any dirt or waste that’s accumulated on it.
Reasons to Water Residential Artificial Grass
Here are a few situations in which you will want to water your residential turf.
1. For Pet Waste Cleanup
If you have pets in your home, especially dogs that tend to leave waste on your turf, you will need to spray water on it in order to clean it up.
For urine cleanup, you should further spray some water and apply a relevant cleaning solution.
For feces, you will have to first spray it with water and then physically remove and dispose of it.
Depending on how good the drainage of your turf is, as well as whether it has an odor suppressant or not, you may not have to use an especially large amount of water.
2. Clean Liquid Spills or Dropped Food
If you drop any food or drinks on your turf , the spills will have to be cleaned immediately using water.
First, depending on the nature of the spill i.e., how solid the food object is, you should either pick it up and physically dispose of it first or you can just spray it with water directly.
Even if you pick up the entire food item, you should still spray the turf with water to get rid of any remaining crumbs or particles so that your turf is not damaged by the spill.
3. Cools the Surface in Harsh Summer
If you live in a particularly hot area where the summer temperatures are quite high, you may wish to water your turf once a week in order to maintain its appearance.
Synthetic turf is designed to withstand high temperatures, so it is not as if your turf could be damaged if it is not watered.
However, it is advisable to water it a bit just to maintain its appearance and prevent it from looking unsightly in the harsh summer heat.
This is especially advisable if you have high traffic on your turf.
4. Removes Dust and Makes the Surface Smoother
If you’ve ever felt that your artificial turf has too much dust collected on it or that it has lost some of its original texture and appearance, giving it a wash could help to replenish its original appearance.
It would also help you regain the lush sea of grass that you had on your day of purchase.
Spraying a little bit of water on the affected area is enough to get rid of most dust and to recreate its original appearance.
If your lawn is extremely dusty, however, a more thorough wash should be performed to remove the dust.
5. Provides a Shine to the Turf
Sometimes your artificial turf may just not appear very clean or shiny looking, so you may want to make it as impressive as possible aesthetically.
A quick wash with some water will easily fix that and allow you to add a fresh shine to your turf.
It is especially advantageous to water your turf to bring a shine to it if you intend to bring over guests.
Giving it a wash will let your turf look its most impressive to visitors.
Reasons to Water a Sports Artificial Grass Field
Sports fields are larger than residential applications of artificial turf, and have to serve the high demands of professional athletes.
So watering them will serve even more benefits.
1. Reduces Injuries and Abrasions
Watering a sports turf will lubricate its surface and make it much softer.
When athletes play sports on it such as football or hockey, they are much less likely to suffer from injuries on a smoother surface.
The reason for this is that a softer surface makes it much easier for athletes to run across.
If any athletes fall down or trip playing sports, the softer surface will soften the blow and reduce the chances of them scraping their knees.
So, there is a practical injury prevention benefit from watering a sports field.
2. Provides a ‘Truer’ Surface for Sports Like Field Hockey
For certain sports like field hockey, it matters a lot that individual athletes and the field hockey ball should be able to slide across the turf as smoothly and easily as possible.
This has an active effect on the athletes’ ability to actually play the sport.
On regular grass, this is easily achieved, but for artificial turf, it is necessary to water down the field before starting a game.
This allows the turf to much more closely replicate the natural texture and feel of natural grass.
3. Cools the Surface to Reduce Rug Burns
Playing sports on artificial turf during the summer often carries the risk of athletes suffering from rug burns if they trip or slide over artificial turf.
This is due to the fact that since artificial turf is composed of synthetic material, it tends to often store heat, unlike natural grass.
So, watering an artificial turf before starting a game can greatly reduce the chances of anyone suffering from a rug burn.
The water will cool down the turf and prevent it from storing any excess heat which could contribute to rug burns.
4. Increases Longevity
Watering an artificial turf can contribute to prolonging its longevity since it will soften and lubricate the surface of the turf.
This will prevent the turf from easily tearing up or suffering from damages that would otherwise be inflicted if the turf were allowed to remain dry and dusty.
Occasionally watering a sports turf also helps to maintain its appearance, so the overall effect of watering a sports turf is that it will look and last better for a longer period of time.
Why Spend More On Turf If It Needs to Be Watered?
You may wonder why you should even purchase turf if it still needs watering.
The answer is that artificial turf retains a competitive advantage despite the above-mentioned needs for watering.
Convenience
Artificial turf is vastly easier to install and maintain than natural grass.
Additionally, it still requires far less watering than natural grass, so it is a much more convenient option than natural grass in view of these qualities.
Newer Infill Material Doesn’t Get Too Hot
If you live in a hot climate, you will be especially pleased to know that most modern infill material available nowadays is very heat resistant.
It will not suffer from damages caused by exposure to high temperatures.
Draught Restrictions on Watering Natural Lawns
In the event of a drought, you will be required to reduce the amount of water used for watering a natural lawn which will result in a deterioration of its appearance.
In contrast, artificial turf does not require daily or extensive watering so it will not deteriorate during a draught.
No Pesticides
Natural grass requires the use of chemical pesticides, which is not only expensive but also requires some expertise to carefully use.
That is, unless you want undesirable vegetation to remain a constant problem for your lawn.
Artificial turf, on the other hand, does not require any pesticide use which eliminates this expense entirely.
Lesser Water Usage vs Natural Grass
While it is desirable to water an artificial turf on occasion, it is absolutely necessary to water natural grass regularly.
So the amount of water used for artificial turfs is a fraction of that needed for natural lawns.
Lower Maintenance Costs Overall
Due to the lower need for water, the absence of any need for pesticides or mowing, the overall maintenance costs of artificial turf are insignificant compared to those of a natural grass lawn.
Conclusion
One of the big advantages of using artificial turf is that it does not need water to grow.
However, it can still be desired to water an artificial turf on occasion so that it can maintain its appearance and avoid damages caused by spills and reduce the likelihood of injuries.